Bergen prosecutor looks to consolidate some police services in wake of merger's defeat

By JOHN C. ENSSLIN

Staff Writer |

The Record

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Thursday that he will work to consolidate some police services — such as SWAT and K-9 units — in the wake of a failed attempt by the freeholders to disband the County Police and merge them into the Sheriff’s office.

During an interview at The Record, Molinelli said he will use the annual meeting of the Law Services Memo Review Board in November as a means to see if the various SWAT and K-9 units scattered throughout the county can be organized in a more efficient manner. He described how some local police agencies have started their own SWAT and K-9 units, leading to a situation he sees as similar to the way Bergen County’s 70 police departments began evolving in 1894.

“I’m hoping that if we can look at reorganizing SWAT and K-9 that we can begin to reverse that 1894 mentality,” he said, describing the Law Services memo as an annual directive the prosecutor issues to all law enforcement agencies in the county.

His remarks came one day after a nearly 18-month-long debate about consolidating county police services ground to a halt when an ordinance to dissolve the 89-member County Police and transfer their jobs to lesser-paid positions with the Sheriff’s office was narrowly defeated on Wednesday.

The defeat is a major victory for County Executive Kathleen Donovan, who had sued the freeholders arguing that they lacked the power to disband a county department without her consent. Jeanne Baratta, her chief of staff, said Donovan was pleased with the outcome of the vote. Baratta said the county will continue to work with local police agencies to find ways to reach shared service agreements like the one underway in Teterboro, which is patrolled by the county police.

Molinelli said he deliberately skipped Wednesday night’s freeholder board meeting because he felt there was no useful purpose he could serve.

The prosecutor said he was dismayed at how tensions over the proposed merger have led to incidents of officers from the County Police, the Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office treating each other with disrespect. As an example, he cited how news spread quickly when one of his investigators who was attending a class on the Bergen Community College Campus was questioned after someone noticed he was wearing his service weapon.

“I’m hoping that things will at least now calm down, that the amount of political frenzy will calm down,” Molinelli said.

That frenzy reached a decisive moment at Wednesday’ freeholder meeting – a session marked by tense and angry exchanges that sometimes resembled a high-stakes poker game in which the outcome seemed uncertain.

For example, when the ordinance finally came to a roll call vote, Freeholder John Driscoll – normally the second freeholder to vote – took a pass. As the vote unfolded, it became clear only two freeholders would vote for the ordinance, Board Chairman John Mitchell and John Felice.

Freeholders David Ganz, Robert Hermansen and Maura DeNicola then formed a majority to defeat the measure. Driscoll and Freeholder Joan Voss abstained. Neither was available for comment Thursday on why they abstained.

Earlier in the evening, the board’s two Democrats, Voss and Ganz, tried to convince the board to table the measure but the effort failed on a party-line 5-2 vote.

The outcome of the meeting quickly became campaign fodder for the two Democrats campaigning for freeholder.

“The Republican Board’s rush to bring this to a vote has now cost taxpayers millions more in duplicative services,” said Tracy Zur, a Democrat from Franklin Lakes.

But Mitchell said the time had come to bring the matter to a vote after 18 months of studying the issue that include nine public hearings and two contradictory studies.

Mitchell said he knew he did not have enough votes when the meeting began, but felt it was time to act.

“We’ve studied this ad nauseum,” he said Thursday, noting that the consultant’s report commissioned by Molinelli’s office and paid with $623,000 in forfeiture funds had been delivered to the freeholders in May 2011.

That report by Guidepost Solutions, suggested several scenarios in which all or part of the County Police Department could be folded into the Sheriff’s command.

Mitchell said he regrets that the board did not act sooner on the study’s recommendation.

“If we had acted last year when the Guidepost study was completed, millions of dollars could have been saved and could have been used to reduce property taxes,” Mitchell said. “The potential savings are now lost for everyone.”

Ganz, however, who was critical of the Guidepost study when it was delivered, remained so Wednesday night.

“I started with the premise that the Guidepost study should be thrown in the trashcan,” he said. “I still agree.”

With the vote, Bergen remains one of two counties in New Jersey with a county police force, although a third county wide force is preparing to take over law enforcement from local police in Camden County

The merger’s demise also prompted State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest, to say he will try to revive legislation aimed at eliminating county police forces in both Union and Bergen County.

“It’s an absolute no brainer that would save money without a loss of services to the public,” Cardinale said.

Bergen prosecutor looks to consolidate some police services in wake of merger's defeat

By JOHN C. ENSSLIN

Staff Writer |

The Record

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Thursday that he will work to consolidate some police services — such as SWAT and K-9 units — in the wake of a failed attempt by the freeholders to disband the County Police and merge them into the Sheriff’s office.

During an interview at The Record, Molinelli said he will use the annual meeting of the Law Services Memo Review Board in November as a means to see if the various SWAT and K-9 units scattered throughout the county can be organized in a more efficient manner. He described how some local police agencies have started their own SWAT and K-9 units, leading to a situation he sees as similar to the way Bergen County’s 70 police departments began evolving in 1894.

“I’m hoping that if we can look at reorganizing SWAT and K-9 that we can begin to reverse that 1894 mentality,” he said, describing the Law Services memo as an annual directive the prosecutor issues to all law enforcement agencies in the county.

His remarks came one day after a nearly 18-month-long debate about consolidating county police services ground to a halt when an ordinance to dissolve the 89-member County Police and transfer their jobs to lesser-paid positions with the Sheriff’s office was narrowly defeated on Wednesday.

The defeat is a major victory for County Executive Kathleen Donovan, who had sued the freeholders arguing that they lacked the power to disband a county department without her consent. Jeanne Baratta, her chief of staff, said Donovan was pleased with the outcome of the vote. Baratta said the county will continue to work with local police agencies to find ways to reach shared service agreements like the one underway in Teterboro, which is patrolled by the county police.

Molinelli said he deliberately skipped Wednesday night’s freeholder board meeting because he felt there was no useful purpose he could serve.

The prosecutor said he was dismayed at how tensions over the proposed merger have led to incidents of officers from the County Police, the Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office treating each other with disrespect. As an example, he cited how news spread quickly when one of his investigators who was attending a class on the Bergen Community College Campus was questioned after someone noticed he was wearing his service weapon.

“I’m hoping that things will at least now calm down, that the amount of political frenzy will calm down,” Molinelli said.

That frenzy reached a decisive moment at Wednesday’ freeholder meeting – a session marked by tense and angry exchanges that sometimes resembled a high-stakes poker game in which the outcome seemed uncertain.

For example, when the ordinance finally came to a roll call vote, Freeholder John Driscoll – normally the second freeholder to vote – took a pass. As the vote unfolded, it became clear only two freeholders would vote for the ordinance, Board Chairman John Mitchell and John Felice.

Freeholders David Ganz, Robert Hermansen and Maura DeNicola then formed a majority to defeat the measure. Driscoll and Freeholder Joan Voss abstained. Neither was available for comment Thursday on why they abstained.

Earlier in the evening, the board’s two Democrats, Voss and Ganz, tried to convince the board to table the measure but the effort failed on a party-line 5-2 vote.

The outcome of the meeting quickly became campaign fodder for the two Democrats campaigning for freeholder.

“The Republican Board’s rush to bring this to a vote has now cost taxpayers millions more in duplicative services,” said Tracy Zur, a Democrat from Franklin Lakes.

But Mitchell said the time had come to bring the matter to a vote after 18 months of studying the issue that include nine public hearings and two contradictory studies.

Mitchell said he knew he did not have enough votes when the meeting began, but felt it was time to act.

“We’ve studied this ad nauseum,” he said Thursday, noting that the consultant’s report commissioned by Molinelli’s office and paid with $623,000 in forfeiture funds had been delivered to the freeholders in May 2011.

That report by Guidepost Solutions, suggested several scenarios in which all or part of the County Police Department could be folded into the Sheriff’s command.

Mitchell said he regrets that the board did not act sooner on the study’s recommendation.

“If we had acted last year when the Guidepost study was completed, millions of dollars could have been saved and could have been used to reduce property taxes,” Mitchell said. “The potential savings are now lost for everyone.”

Ganz, however, who was critical of the Guidepost study when it was delivered, remained so Wednesday night.

“I started with the premise that the Guidepost study should be thrown in the trashcan,” he said. “I still agree.”

With the vote, Bergen remains one of two counties in New Jersey with a county police force, although a third county wide force is preparing to take over law enforcement from local police in Camden County

The merger’s demise also prompted State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest, to say he will try to revive legislation aimed at eliminating county police forces in both Union and Bergen County.

“It’s an absolute no brainer that would save money without a loss of services to the public,” Cardinale said.